In a recent New York Times piece, actress Uma Thurman discussed the abuse of bigwig Harvey Weinstein. In addition to his, she brought up a story regarding Quentin Tarantino, who seemed to bully her into driving a vehicle on the set of Kill Bill. This resulted in her getting into an accident and suffering permanent damage her neck and knees.

In a follow-up post on Instagram, she clarified her statements, saying that she didn’t blame Tarantino, and that he has since expressed remorse over his actions, and that he is the one responsible for giving her the footage that she shared in the piece. Now, in an exclusive interview with Deadline, Tarantino discussed his perspective of the incident.

For starters, Tarantino confirmed that he gave the footage to Thurman, and that the pair of them have been in contact for some time, and have been planning the release of this footage to help indict folks for the cover-up. So, from the sound of it, the two of them were working together to bring this incident to light. One thing that is different, however, is his recollection of how the whole incident went down.

For starters, he claims that he never approached her “in a rage,” though he did admit that he likely was irritated and probably rolled his eyes.

“Anyone who knows Uma knows that going into her trailer, and screaming at her to do something is not the way to get her to do something. That’s a bad tactic and I’d been shooting the movie with her for an entire year by this time. I would never react to her this way.

[…]

“I came in there all happy telling her she could totally do it, it was a straight line, you will have no problem. Uma’s response was…”Okay.” Because she believed me. Because she trusted me. I told her it would be okay. I told her the road was a straight line. I told her it would be safe. And it wasn’t. I was wrong. I didn’t force her into the car. She got into it because she trusted me. And she believed me.”

Obviously, things didn’t work out exactly as planned. When planning the shot, they had scouted the road, but had decided to shoot her going the opposite way, which seemed to make a difference in whether or not it was a straight shot.

“She showed up, in a good mood. We did the shot. And she crashed. At first, no one really knew what happened. After the crash, when Uma went to the hospital, I was feeling in total anguish at what had happened. I walked the road, going the opposite direction. And in walking the road, going in the other direction…I don’t know how a straight road turns into an un-straight road, but it wasn’t as straight. It wasn’t the straight shot that it had been, going the other way. There is a little mini S-curve that almost seemed like it opened up to a mini fork in the road.

That is just not the way it looked, going in the opposite direction. Maybe the opposite direction there was kind of an optical illusion. This other way, there’s a little bend and if you look at the footage, that’s where she loses control. She’s flying along, and she thinks it’s a straight road and as far as she can see, it is a straight road out her windshield. And then it takes this little S-curve, and she’s not prepared for it. And it throw the car out of control.”

So how does Tarantino feel about the incident now?

“Beyond one of the biggest regrets of my career, it is one of the biggest regrets of my life. For a myriad of reasons.”

The filmmaker goes into greater detail in the extensive interview, which you can check out HERE, but he does go on to say that, based on the way the article was written, he took a bit of a hit (though he doesn’t seem too bothered by it). He also addresses the prose in the piece that implies Tarantino had put the choking and spitting scenes in the film as a bit of revenge against Thurman, pretty much saying that he did those personally because she trusted him, and wanted to make sure she was comfortable.

What do you think of Tarantino’s account? Let us know your thoughts down below!

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.

Joseph Jammer Medina is an author, podcaster, and editor-in-chief of LRM. A graduate of Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Television, Jammer's always had a craving for stories. From movies, television, and web content to books, anime, and manga, he's always been something of a story junkie.

Subscribe

Copyrights and trademarks for the film and related entertainment properties mentioned herein are held by their respective owners and are used with permission or solely for the promotional purposes of said properties.